This year, three women breached the USD 20 million mark, compared to four women in 2016 according to the Forbes list 2017. Notably, absent this year: Scarlett Johansson, who failed to earn above the USD 11.5 million cut off for this year's list. Overall, the cumulative total is down 16 percent from USD 205 million in 2016.
Their success remains remarkable considering that female characters fill only 28.7 percent of all speaking roles in a film according to a 2016 study. Roles for women above 40 are even fewer and farther between, which makes it all the more notable that 60 percent of this year's list members are over the age of 40.